Improvement in mail-boxes



' place where it is desired to attach it.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

AUSTIN WV. ALLEN AND CHARLES REITZ, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.`

IMPROVEMENT IN MAIL-BOXES.

Specification formng`part of .Letters Patent No. 107,586, dated September 20, 1870.

. lowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference bemg had to the annexed drawings, v making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of our mail-box in perspective. Fig. 2 is an inside view, and Fig. 3 a transverse vertical section, of the same.-

The nature of our invention consists in the construction and arrangement of a mail-box for private oiiices and residences, to be fastened to door-facings, gate-posts, &c., as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled iu the art to which our invention appertains to make and use the same, we will now proceed' to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A repre sents the box, provided on its front side, at the lower end, with a door, B, which is hinged at its upper edge, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

rIhe box A is open at the back, and its sides are at their rear edge provided with lugs c c, through which screws are passed to fasten the box to the door-facing,gate-post, or any other These screws are inserted from the inside of the box, and cannot be reached except through tthe door B. The door is provided with a lock composed of only two pieces-namely, the bolt C and spring D. The bolt C, which moves in guides b b on the inside of the door B, is at its lower end so constructed as to catch on a lug, d, on the upper or'imlcr side of the bot tom of the box A. The upper end of the bolt is formed round, with a shoulder or o'set, e, and the spring D surrounds this round portion, between the shoulder e and the upper guide Z, so as to press the bolt downward. The bolt is raised by means of a key from the outside. The top of the box A, which is inclined forward, is near its rear edge provided with an opening surrounded by an up ward-projecting box-like fiange or collar, E,

forming the throat or month to the box; The

mouth E is provided with a lid, G, having a downward-projecting flange around the ends and front s ide. 1 The lid G is hinged to the mouth E by merely passing a-pin' or rivet on each side through the rear end of the flange on the lid, and through the side of the mouth.

H represents a plate varranged on the inside of the box A, near the top, and is held in posi#A tion by its two upper corners projecting and extending through holes in the sides of the box, as shown in Fig. 2. The lower edge of the plate H is thrown in an angle toward the front by means of a spring, j'. Its purpose is to feed the mail-mattei` from the back of box toward the front in such a manner as tokeep the opening clear, and to keep the papers from crowding on top of each other, and to enable a larger amount of mailmatter to be placed Y The leading and paramount object of ourv invention is to provide means for packing a large quantity of miscellaneous mail-matter within a small compass. If the box be filled with Vsmall letters only, none of which are of suiiicient length ton reach from the bottom to the serrated edge of the plate, the` process of packing is only partially'accomplished5 but when newspapers and large packages arev passed through the throat of the box the lower ends thereof rest upon the bottom, while their upper ends are pressed firmly against the side of the box opposite the throat by'means of the plate H, operated by its spring f. As every additional large piece of Inail-matter is passed downward between the edge of the plate and the large package last inserted, it follows that the whole number of large packages placed in the box are compressed as above stated.y In the meantime the small letters usually become pressed between the large packages in an upright position, and thereby all the available area ofthe box is utilized.

Having thus fully described our invention, 1 'In testimony that We claim the above We what We claim as new, and desire to secure by I have hereunto subscribed our nfnnes in the Letters Patent, is presence of two Witnesses.

In n mail-box, the arrangement herein shown AUSTIN XV. ALLEN. and described, of thefeed and protection plate CHARLES REITZ.

H and springj, when constructed substantially XVitnesses: :rs described, for the purpose of guiding` and L F. MEDSTER,

holding the inail-matter, as specified. H. I-I. TAYLOR. 

